Thank you for your comment. I find your reference to Duns Scotus evocative, since I associate him with the chain of thought that results in the rejection of universals in metaphysics and of eudaimonia in ethics, culminating in the nominalism of Ockham and Descartes — which I view as philosophical siblings to Reformation theology. Man is …
Thank you for your comment. I find your reference to Duns Scotus evocative, since I associate him with the chain of thought that results in the rejection of universals in metaphysics and of eudaimonia in ethics, culminating in the nominalism of Ockham and Descartes — which I view as philosophical siblings to Reformation theology. Man is alone in a universe with just God and God’s determination to save or damn him. I realize I am oversimplifying but the starkness of the post-Reformation mindset, in theology, philosophy, ethics, art and literature, is not one conducive, methinks, to the curiosity I associate with a public intellectual.
Well, just 50-60 years ago, well within many of our lifetimes, the Anglosphere public intellectual sphere was chock full of Protestants - the Niebuhrs, CS Lewis, Karl Barth, etc. That's strong evidence the current decline of intellectualism in Protestant is recent, not intrinsic to Protestantism.
Duns Scotus was beatified by JP2, and had tremendous influence in Catholicism, so foisting him off on the Protestants is a non-starter ;)
So interesting to learn Duns was beatified. Would love to have been a fly on the wall for that discussion! So taking you up on your main point, what explains the decline? The collapse of the mainline denominations?
I would say so. The mainline churches, rather than evangelicals, were what had the finances, intellectual pedigree, and cultural cachet to produce public intellectuals. They lost a lot of members, and their flagship institutions (like the Episcopal Church, the PCUSA, the Ivies) largely turned to the pseudo-religion of political leftism instead of anything distinctively Christian. So they still produce public intellectuals, but few of them will draw from the actual Christian intellectual tradition.
There are certainly intellectuals in some of the churches that are evangelical, primarily the older traditions (Reformed, Lutheran, Anglican), but they don't have the cultural sway. Tim Keller had moments where he was in the public spotlight, but it was more of a "modern day Billy Graham, America's pastor" sort of role than the true public intellectual role.
Thank you for your comment. I find your reference to Duns Scotus evocative, since I associate him with the chain of thought that results in the rejection of universals in metaphysics and of eudaimonia in ethics, culminating in the nominalism of Ockham and Descartes — which I view as philosophical siblings to Reformation theology. Man is alone in a universe with just God and God’s determination to save or damn him. I realize I am oversimplifying but the starkness of the post-Reformation mindset, in theology, philosophy, ethics, art and literature, is not one conducive, methinks, to the curiosity I associate with a public intellectual.
Well, just 50-60 years ago, well within many of our lifetimes, the Anglosphere public intellectual sphere was chock full of Protestants - the Niebuhrs, CS Lewis, Karl Barth, etc. That's strong evidence the current decline of intellectualism in Protestant is recent, not intrinsic to Protestantism.
Duns Scotus was beatified by JP2, and had tremendous influence in Catholicism, so foisting him off on the Protestants is a non-starter ;)
So interesting to learn Duns was beatified. Would love to have been a fly on the wall for that discussion! So taking you up on your main point, what explains the decline? The collapse of the mainline denominations?
I would say so. The mainline churches, rather than evangelicals, were what had the finances, intellectual pedigree, and cultural cachet to produce public intellectuals. They lost a lot of members, and their flagship institutions (like the Episcopal Church, the PCUSA, the Ivies) largely turned to the pseudo-religion of political leftism instead of anything distinctively Christian. So they still produce public intellectuals, but few of them will draw from the actual Christian intellectual tradition.
There are certainly intellectuals in some of the churches that are evangelical, primarily the older traditions (Reformed, Lutheran, Anglican), but they don't have the cultural sway. Tim Keller had moments where he was in the public spotlight, but it was more of a "modern day Billy Graham, America's pastor" sort of role than the true public intellectual role.